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A brand-new Falcon 9 core (tailnumbered “B1059”) will launch a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, 4 December, when the CRS-19 Dragon rises from Earth to begin its multi-day journey to the sprawling orbital outpost. Liftoff of the 230-foot-tall (70-meter) booster is targeted during an “instantaneous” window at 12:51 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. B1059 completed a static fire test of its nine Merlin 1D+ first-stage engines on 26 November.
And the Dragon—flying as part of the Commercial Resupply Services contract between SpaceX and NASA, initially agreed back in December 2008—will arrive at the station early Saturday, 7 December, for a monthlong stay. All told, the Dragon will be carrying around 7,300 pounds (3,310 kg) of equipment, payloads and supplies for the incumbent Expedition 61 crew, including a Japanese hyperspectral imager for emplacement onto the external facility of the Kibo lab.
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